Star Wars Celebration: Battlefront – The Good & the Bad

Having sat in on the 30 minute press0only presentation of Battlefront, the hour long panel discussion, chatting with other media about rumor and speculation, and a chance run in with the DICE dev team all during Star Wars Celebration, I feel pretty confident that I have some solid answers for those of you who still have questions about EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront. There is good news, and there is bad news. Let’s go bad first, as to get it out of the way so we can revel in the good, shall we?

SPACE BATTLES; there won’t be any. As strange as it sounds, we will be getting a Star Wars game where we will be looking at the stars from in-atmosphere. This revelation really bummed me out personally, although I will say I’m still stoked that we are being promised intense dog fighting even if not in the void of space.

Following the omission of space battles, the fact that GALACTIC CONQUEST will not be an option is one that seems to be the major letdown of DICE’s take on the franchise. This was a popular mode in the 2 previous Battlefront games, but will be missing from the November 17th launch this time around.

No, as of now you can not control the AT-ATs. Though you will certainly be able to manipulate AT-STs and other vehicles/tech, for now the AT-AT walkers we know so well from Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back will not be something we are able to wreak havoc with.

Now for some of the good.

BOTS! Yes, there will be a single player mode with all the botastic action you loners can handle, enjoy.

For those of you who don’t like seeing through the eyes of the characters, a 3rd person POV will be available in addition to the 1st person camera for those who prefer to be closer to the action.

Couch co-op is a go! We will be able to queue up with a friend in the comfort of home without a second console for some of that sweet SPLIT SCREEN action. Let’s just hope the Xbox 1 and PS4 can handle the stress of double rendering the crystal clear images of that now infamous Frostbite engine!

Ground to air and air to ground assault. Even without space we will be able to pound our enemies into dust with the laser cannons of all the iconic Star Wars ships. We saw the Millennium Falcon in the trailer, so all bets are off if you try to get near me.

The proximity of the Battlefront release date to the premier of The Force Awakens leave room for some interesting DLC. The newest planet to the Star Wars universe is Jakku, which will be a central location for the new movie, as well as the setting for the free DLC expansion to come with your purchase of Battlefront, titled “The Battle of Jakku”. Pre-orfers are available which will give you access to the Battle of Jakku a full earlier than those buying off the shelf.

All in all, I think most gamers will be happy with the Dice rendering of Star Wars Battlefront. They seem to have taken great pride in the ability to work on such an iconic project, and while it may be lacking a couple big things we were all hoping for, I’m sure when this game drops, so will our jaws. I for one can’t wait to play. Of course being the fanboy I am anything with a Star Wars logo gets my seal of approval. Except Jar Jar, Hayden Christiansen’s ghost in Jedi, all 3 prequel movies, the over the top CGI additions to the originals, and George Lucas after 1991.